| From: | Justin Pinnow <vanyel@*******.NET> |
|---|---|
| Subject: | Re: Mundane Astral Perception (Attn. Steve Kenson,I need an |
| Date: | Fri, 1 Aug 1997 01:02:29 -0400 |
> Date: Friday, August 01, 1997 12:40 AM
>
> > Not in my opinion. :) He's still using the same senses to perceive,
> thus
> > he can shift his astral point of view however he likes...in the astral,
> > IMO, you perceive with your aura. Unlike your eyes, your aura
surrounds
> > your entire being, it doesn't have a fixed field of vision. You can
> shift
> > your perception around from one part of the astral to another without
> > moving your phsyical eyes, because you don't perceive with your eyes on
> the
> > astral (which is why a physically blind person is still allowed to
> astrally
> > perceive, if applicable).
> I'm not sure where you get the notion that your astral LOS is movable.
> Especially while simply astrally perceiving, if you could simply surround
> yourself with your aura, then no one would ever have to make a perception
> test in the astral, and you could never be snuck up on.
> Not a rule I'm comfortable with personally.
> For that matter, it would make astrally perc. mages immpossible to
surprise
> on the material plane!
> Not good IMO.
Okay, you are assuming something here. Allow me to clarify. You CANNOT
see in all directions at once. You are able to look around without moving
your physical body, however, by perceiving with a different part of your
aura. You aren't actually changing or shaping your aura. Since there is
no necessity to have physical senses in order to astrally perceive, I just
rule that perception is somehow done via a being's aura. Just think of it
as having dozens of sets of astral eyes...while only being able to perceive
with one set at a time, however.
This doesn't change much in the way of game mechanics. It only elaborates
on astral perception a bit. To me, since astral perception isn't based
solely upon physical senses, it doesn't have the restriction of having to
be performed via any of your physical senses. Thus, why should you have to
turn your head on the physical to perceive the part of the astral plane
behind you? IMO, you wouldn't. Just shift your perception to "view" a
different direction. After all, you don't use your eyes to astrally
perceive.
> Also, how would this little concept work when applied to a dual critter
> like a ghoul?
> Dual critters are ALWAYS astrally perc., do they have this special 360
> perception then as well?
Again, this perception is NOT 360 degrees, rather a standard field of
vision. The difference between dual natured beings and astrally perceiving
beings is that dual natured creatures see both the astral and the physical
at the same time. Thus, they don't suffer a TN modifier for performing
physical tasks. Also, I would rule that they would have to shut off their
physical senses (close their eyes, etc.) if they wanted to shift their
astral perspective to look behind them without turning their physical head.
Otherwise, they would be physically perceiving one area and astrally
perceiving another...too confusing. :)
Normally, they just perceive the same location on both planes at
once...turning their head and astral perspective at the same time.
> AFAIK an assensing mage is treated just like a dual critter, except even
> more restricted, as he suffers a modifier for taking actions in the
> material world as well as the astral.
See above.
> I guess this kind of brings me full circle to a point in my FAB aregument
> from a year ago on this list.
> A wizards aura is NOT a malleable object, and CANNOT be shaped to fit the
> circumstances.
> AFAIK you cannot adjust your LOS to whereever you like, otherwise, mages
> would always have LOS for casting spells, etc.
Again, you are simply looking somewhere else. It's the same thing as
turning your head on the physical plane to shift your LOS to your left a
bit. You still see the same amount of space, just a different space.
> Maybe Steve Kenson can speak to this as well?
I hope this clarifies things a bit. It's simple, really. This just is a
creative idea I had the other day, and works within the system. It just
doesn't make sense that you have to turn around on the physical in order to
astrally perceive behind you, because your senses on the astral are not
tied to your physical senses...they are seperate. Thus, this is my way of
explaining how it works.
This also allows for an astrally perceiving being to be perceiving behind
him without a physical creature noticing that he is doing so, because he
doesn't turn his head. Makes for interesting situations when it seems like
the mage has eyes in the back of his head.
Hope that clears things up a bit. :)
Justin :)
